First Light :)

[mgirdwood]

the weather here has been awful since i picked up the new Dob on friday, and it didnt look like it was going to get much better for quite some time. But i popped out side on a short errand to wee the clouds had actually broken, so i a quick dash back in and the wife and i quickly moved it out on to the patio.

As this was my first look through a telescope of any description the Moon was first on the menu. Brilliant, literally - so bright it hurts the eyes a little but the detail with the 10mm EP was excellent. yes it is not so easy to focus but even so, i will be back to spend more time here another night.

Obviously next up was Jupiter. in and out with the different EP on this one as i just couldnt bring it in to focus as much as i thought i ought to be able to ( but again this could be my expectations setting to high. pretty sure i could see a few of the moons quite well, a great and lets be honest quite humbling when you realise just how far away this planet is.

absolutely freezing out there tonight, but i had to try to grab a photo, and as i dont have any attachments yet it was hand holding my DSLR with 18-55mm lens into the EP. blimey but his is not an easy thing to do, even being able to see into the EP was a trick to do.

i know they arent much but i am quite chuffed i got any on the camera

Lastly, a very quick swing over to Orio to see if i could find M42, and i think i got it. i will need to have a rummage through so photos on the web to be certain but i think so.

All in all - given the lack of planning - i am quite happy with the first views today. Now the hard tasks of learning where everything is, how to take good photos and how to get the Auto on the Dob to work so it tracks and i get more than 10 secs before everything shoots out of the other side of the FoV.

[faulksy]

not bad at all that glad you enjoyed first light, it will get better

[swamp thing]

Hi

Nice write up. The main thing is to enjoy yourself out there.

Regards Steve

[rory]

nice report.

[George!]

Sounds like a great first light

[LukeSkywatcher]

Nice report. Pretty impressive image also. I'd say the focus problem you had was that the scope was not cooled down enough.

[Charon]

Good report, glad you enjoyed your first light.

[todd8137]

hi sounds like a great night what size scope is it ?

[mgirdwood]

thanks everyone for the encouragement, that is always fairly apparent in all the forum areas. looks like the weather is going close down on us again so back to Stellarium

@Todd, the scope is the SW 200 Auto Dob, once i get the correct attachments i think the photography will improve. certainly got to be better than trying to focus through the EP by hand

now comes all the "fun" stuff, how does this and that work ? what EP etc etc etc

If there are any Auto Dob users out there that can pass on any help on setup and tracking i would be very happy to hear from you.

Clear Skies